The Promise
by Fluffy Sheep
Summary: Naruto can't stop thinking about Sasuke's near sacrifice of his life for him after their return from the Land of Waves. Mostly friendship. A little yaoi. Pretty fluffy, actually. K plus, just in case K is too small a rating. One can never be sure.


_Note : This is just a very short one shot thing that was in my head for a while until I finally decided to write it down. I'm not usually much of a yaoi fangirl, and SasuNaru was the first and only yaoi pairing I ever liked. I guess it's mostly friendship, but it can be interpreted however you see it, I suppose._

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All the way home from the land of waves, Naruto couldn't stop thinking about it.

He had nearly died. His first big mission and he had nearly died. If it hadn't been for Sasuke, those needles would have hit him...

No...Haku wasn't planning on killing either of them. So Sasuke jumping in didn't mean anything, right?

No again. It meant a lot. Sasuke really thought Haku's needles would have killed him. So when he jumped in, he fully intended to sacrifice his life. He was going to die for him. Even though he had his own dreams and ambitions, he jumped in. It was stupid, really.

_It's a good thing Haku was so kind _Naruto thought as they entered the village's gates _Or else Sasuke would really be dead...because of me._

Scowling in thought, Naruto kicked a rock in the road. Why? That was the question. Why the heck had he gone and done that? Still scowling, he glanced sideways at Sasuke.

As usual, his face was expressionless. He just walked straight ahead with his hands in his pockets. Sakura walked next to him with a faint smile of relief still lingering on her face.

"Well, I'm tired, so I'm going home now" Kakashi-sensei said, waving and turning away.

"Oh, bye Kaka-sensei" Sakura said "I'd better go too. See you, Naruto...." she paused, slowing down and turning to "...Sasuke" She smiled at him sweetly.

"Later, Sakura!" Naruto grinned at her. Sasuke gave her a careless wave, but didn't say anything. She looked from Naruto to Sasuke sadly, and then walked off.

"Later, dobe" Sasuke said after a moment, turning to walk away. Naruto grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Hey!" he shouted "Why don't you ever pay attention when Sakura talks to you?"

"Huh? Well, I didn't really notice-"

"You're such an idiot!" Naruto interrupted. "She's awesome, and you don't even care!"

"Hey, take it easy, Naruto" Sasuke said, pulling his arm from Naruto's grip.

"You really are an idiot, you know" Naruto said, the subject of his shouting changing in his mind suddenly "You could have been killed on this mission! To save _me!_ Just tell me one thing..._why?_" Tears began to well in his eyes, but he didn't seem to notice. Sasuke stared at Naruto for a minute with a shocked expression on his face.

"Because" he said "You're...you're so...I don't know. I used to hate you! But...you..." he paused to smirk "I guess you grew on me."

"Huh?" Naruto stared up at Sasuke, unnoticed tears wet on his cheeks.

"You're always going on about being Hokage, and how nothing can stop you. Not even the whole village hating you! After a while of hearing that, it's hard not to like you. I mean, sheesh. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you had that dream - no, your whole _life_ - taken away from you, when I could've done something about it" Sasuke said, spilling out his thoughts. He took a deep breath.

"I think..." Naruto shook his head and blinked "That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me. So...you did it because..."

"Because" Sasuke interrupted, looking at the ground. "Naruto, you're the best friend I ever had" Naruto froze, staring into the dark eyes that wouldn't meet his.

"S-Sasuke!" Naruto shouted suddenly, fresh tears rolling down his cheeks. He jumped forward, wrapping his arms around Sasuke in a hug "Thank you. You're my best friend too!"

Sasuke went stiff, and then softened. He smiled faintly to himself, and then wrapped his arms around Naruto, with one hand in his hair.

"Thank _you_" he said quietly.

"Promise we'll be best friends no matter what!" Naruto said, squeezing Sasuke tighter. "Please!" Sasuke stepped back, hands on Naruto's shoulders now.

"I'm an avenger" he said, shaking his head. "But, I promise that, through everything, I'll never forget you. My first real best friend."

With that, he bent and kissed Naruto lightly on the tear stained cheek.

"S-Sorry" he said, stepping back. "I don't know why I-"

"No" Naruto stopped him "It's okay. And I'll take that promise. You better not break it or I'll knock you out!" Sasuke looked surprised for a second, then smiled.

"Don't worry." Sasuke said "Even if I leave the village one day, in search of him, I'll always remember you. You remember me too, okay? And this night, and this promise."

"Yeah" Naruto nodded, making two determined fists and flashing a small smile.

Sasuke turned then, heading home. Naruto watched him for a moment, then ran toward him.

"Wait! Hold on Sasuke!" he called. Sasuke stopped and turned around. When he did, Naruto leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

"I'm making a promise too" he said "Never to forget you, my first real best friend. No matter what happens, I won't. You've done a lot for me, so I won't break this promise"

Sasuke stared at him, looking speechless, then smiled.

"You better not" he said, turning away "Or I'll have to knock you out"

Naruto grinned his trademark grin, as he watched Sasuke walk away.

A few days later, Kakashi-sensei asked to meet his students for an important mission. Naruto ran from his house in excitement, eager to start the day.

"Good morning Sakura-chan!" He shouted when he saw her.

Then he and Sasuke met eyes, and a wave of awkwardness settled over them.

"Bah!" They both spat, jerking their heads away quickly.

Sakura flinched, feeling the awkwardness too. She looked not but a little confused, wondering what this whole thing was about all of a sudden. She had noticed they hadn't been the same since they returned from the wave country.

But she would never know the real reason.

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_Reviews make my soul happy._


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